ST. PAUL, Minn. – A pair of three-run home runs helped the Macalester College softball team defeat Hamline University, 7-4 in the first game of a MIAC doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Meredith Field. The second game was halted due to rain in the bottom of the fourth inning with the score tied at 4-4. The Scots are now 14-9 overall and 5-0 in the conference, while the Pipers drop to 4-17, 1-4 MIAC.

After Hamline took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning, junior outfielder Alli Johnson (Waukee, Iowa/Northwest) hit a double to plate sophomore catcher Dylan Tapia (Tarzana, Calif./Notre Dame) in the top of the second and tie the score at 1-1. Then in the top of the third, Tapia blasted a deep home run with junior Tess Bojorquez (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) and sophomore infielder Ally Wolf (Valencia, Calif./Valencia) on base for a 4-1 advantage. But in the bottom of the third, the Pipers came right back to tie it with three runs on four hits.

The score remained tied at 4-4 until the top of the seventh. With two out, Wolf and Tapia hit back to back singles in front of junior outfielder Callia Holland (Akron, Ohio/Hawken), who connected for another three-run homer that put the Scots on top, 7-4. Holland is now tied with Johnson for the team lead with four home runs on the season. In the bottom of the seventh, junior pitcher Martha Miller (Medford, Wis./Medford) hit the first batter but retired the final three batters on a strikeout, groundout and line out to end the game.

Junior Rebecca Heinze (Rosemount, Minn./Prescott) went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Wolf, Tapia, Johnson and junior infielder Elizabeth Welch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) each had two hits. Tapia scored three runs along with her three RBIs. Miller went the distance in the circle, limiting Hamline to four runs, three earned, on five hits while walking one and striking out three in seven innings. The Scots recorded 14 hits but left seven runners on base.

In the second game, the Pipers scored twice in the top of the first before first year Ainsley Sullivan (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) drove in Holland with a sacrifice fly in the top of the second. Bojorquez broke the tie with a two-run double in the third, later scoring on a base-running play with Holland for a 4-2 advantage. Hamline tied the game with two runs in the top of the fifth and had runners and second and third with two out in the fifth when the game was halted due to rain. The remainder of the game will be play at a future date that has yet to be announced.

Macalester travels to St. Peter, Minn. to face Gustavus in another MIAC twin bill on Sunday, April 12. The first game begins at 1:00 p.m.